Elizabeth Davies: 12 Days of Christmas’  for mom

Friday

Nov 26, 2010 at 12:01 AMNov 26, 2010 at 9:23 PM

So, for all the moms for whom the best part of Christmas can’t be wrapped in a box, I offer the mom’s version of that classic song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” It’s clearly no match for the original, but still a good summary of December for mothers everywhere.

Elizabeth Davies

Christmas morning, they say, is simply magical for children. I hear that everywhere I go. Friends and strangers whose children are grown will look at my little ones with a touch of envy as they remember those special years when the excitement of Christmas simply bubbled in their souls.

I have no doubt that they’re right. For weeks, I’ve been gathering a mental list of the Christmas activities I want to do with my kids — from Nativity sets and volunteering to crafts and cookie decorating. My husband and I have spoken more than once about how our Christmases are starting to reach their peak of excitement, as our children get old enough to truly take part in the holiday.

It’s through all this planning and daydreaming that I’ve realized something: Christmas might be special for children, and it might be expensive for fathers, but it’s downright priceless for mothers.

We drove through a small country town just before dinnertime this week, on our way home from an everyday errand. The downtown, only a few blocks long, had been decked out in wreaths and white lights with garland looped between the lampposts. In the backseat, my 3-year-old gasped.

“Mommy, it’s Christmas!” he exclaimed.

And in that moment, I got my paycheck.

Moms don’t get paid every Friday. We don’t get health insurance benefits or a 401k. Rather, our paydays come sporadically and in the most unexpected ways. It comes in the swell of your heart when a child says “thank you” without being prompted. It’s the way their eyes light up when you walk in the room or in the quiet of bedtime prayers each evening.

And so, for every magical moment our children encounter at Christmas, there’s an equally special payback for us moms. It makes up for the times we have to scrape Play-Doh out of the carpet or reach for Matchbox cars that rolled under the last row of the minivan.

So, for all the moms for whom the best part of Christmas can’t be wrapped in a box, I offer the mom’s version of that classic song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” It’s clearly no match for the original, but still a good summary of December for mothers everywhere.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my children gave to me:

Twelve reminders that the train set desperately needs a new engine for Christmas,